


When My Power Goes Out & You Look Up

by BladedDarkness



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:50:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6814126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BladedDarkness/pseuds/BladedDarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr Prompt: Cat may know Kara Danvers as sunny, Supergirl as brave, but she hasn't yet dealt with Kara Zor-El, a girl still grieving the loss of her planet, culture, and people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When My Power Goes Out & You Look Up

She doesn’t get it at first. 

 

Kara leaves her surprised the first time they meet - speechless, nearly. It’s not just the casual admittance that she is nothing special, that she has to prove herself before she can be given her due. It’s the look in Kara’s eyes - as if she has already failed the expectations that have been placed upon her, felt the crushing weight of not measuring up. Kara’s eyes tell her that she has already been unsuccessful in the one task she never wanted to fail, that she wasn’t supposed to fail.

 

Cat thinks it must be the press of parental disappointment - she has enough experience with that, of never being good enough, after all. Cat has taken her mother’s disdain and used it to fuel her climb to the top. She admires, for a second, the way Kara carries on as well, wanting to be useful. She thinks this means Kara wants to be needed, to be recognized. Yes, Cat thinks, we are alike in this.

 

She is wrong.

 

She ignores the girl regularly and calls her by the wrong name. She acts as though Kara’s attempts to make her life easier are not worthy of recognition, but expected, even the ones that she knows Kara thinks she doesn’t know about. She wants to reinforce the idea that Kara must work to be noticed, wants to see how much mileage she can get out Kara’s drive for acknowledgment before the girl demands  _ more _ .

 

There it is, she thinks when Kara snaps, when Kara challenges Cat to look at all Kara does for her. She cannot help the tendril of confusion that arises when Kara tries to take it all back.

 

Cat is disappointed when she realizes the root of Kara’s frustration is not her, not entirely, but more the result of her life and extracurricular activities outside of CatCo.

 

Yes, Kara enjoys Cat’s rare praise. She likes to be recognized for a job well done - perhaps slightly more than usual, but it does not affect all that Kara does for her. Kara schedules her meetings around Carter’s timetable without prompting, she quietly ensures that Cat always has her glasses on hand. Kara does these without prompting, without expectation.

 

And Kara always has a smile for Cat, even when she is at her snarkiest or most hungover. She’s amused when her minions start going through Kara to lessen the chance of her outright firing them, but they act like Kara is the authority on everything Cat Grant. Cat tries to shake it up, but Kara’s smile is always a welcome sight.

 

\-----

 

Cat initially realizes she’s wrong when she meets Supergirl.

 

She has her suspicions almost immediately, how could she not? The part of Cat that is most disappointed isn’t the part wondering how she could have missed her own superhero right under her nose, but rather that she needs to reevaluate her perception of the girl  _ again _ . 

 

She thinks for a moment that Kara’s smiles are because she’s getting away with being extraordinary right in front of Cat, masquerading as average, but that isn’t it. 

 

But then Supergirl smiles at her and oh, there’s that affection that she associates with Kara and she is in  _ trouble _ .

 

Supergirl is nearly invulnerable, but she’s throwing herself into situations where she can get hurt just as Kara throws herself into assisting Cat. There are now aliens coming out of the woodwork and targeting her for some reason, aliens that seem to care little at all about Superman and focus their strength against Supergirl.

 

Supergirl throws herself between Cat and several thousand volts of electricity.

 

\-----

 

Kara Zor-El is neither Supergirl nor Kara Danvers, but Kara Danvers and Supergirl are Kara Zor-El.

 

It’s obvious now, she thinks, that it’s not parental disapproval that weighs the girl down, that was hidden in her eyes when Cat hired her.

 

She expects Sunny Danvers when she opens her eyes their first morning after.

 

What she gets is a teary-eyed Kara on her bedroom balcony, standing and chanting in a lilt and language she does not recognize with her eyes directed to the sun, or perhaps to somewhere beyond. Cat doesn’t approach beyond the sliding doors, nor does she make a noise to interrupt. 

 

Eventually Kara returns, eyes red-rimmed and watery in a way she doesn’t expect to see from Supergirl.

 

“I have to go,” Kara croaks, and Cat marvels at how hoarse she sounds, wonders how long she had been chanting while Cat slept unaware to sound that way. “I have plans with Alex.” She shuffles over to where her clothes were tossed. “I shouldn’t have been here last night.”

 

“Very well,” Cat manages, as if she isn’t hurt by that declaration. Still, Kara looks at her and then catches her hand as she turns towards the bathroom.

 

“Hey. I didn’t mean it that way,” Kara says, and Cat tries not to scoff. “I just meant… it shouldn’t have been last night, not when today is  _ this _ day.”

 

“Oh, is sex on Sundays off-limits?”

 

“No, it’s.” Kara tugs on her hair with her free hand, tears through the snarls and knots. “It’s the anniversary of Krypton’s destruction and I shouldn’t have come here last night, not before that.”

 

Cat blinks, not sure what to say to that. “Then why did you?”

 

“I wanted to forget, to feel normal, like I hadn’t lost everything.”

 

“Kara,” murmurs Cat.

 

“I’m sorry,” Kara says. “It’s not fair to you.”

 

“Go,” Cat replies, though she tangles her fingers with Kara’s. “And when you’re done paying your respects, know that you have a place here. You can come back and share, if you want. Or be silent as well. Whatever you need.”

 

“Thank you.” Kara kisses her cheek softly, then she is gone.

 

\-----

 

Kara Danvers is well known to Cat at this point. She has a symbiotic relationship with Supergirl as well.

 

But Kara Zor-El is still largely unrevealed to her, a mystery she has yet to be given permission to explore.

**Author's Note:**

> I do Prompt Fridays on my Tumblr (same username). This is one of them.


End file.
